Democrazy World!

Despite dissing dismissals as arrogant hubris (who what?) by thesad collective of unfun unexceptionals that for decency’s sake shall remain linkless (many of which most certainly would fail to recog a good time even if it sat on their face), ppl are catching on to the concept of democrazy world.

The truth is that a world without dictators may not be such a lark. Yes, it has never been harder than it is today to be a dictator. An army of Western experts and activists now stands at the ready to shine a spotlight on human rights abuses or gross corruption. If you order a violent crackdown, you know it probably will be captured on an iPhone and broadcast around the world in real time.Totalitarianism, the ultimate expression of dictatorship, is virtually extinct. It was just too expensive. The Josef Stalins, Pol Pots, and Idi Amins belong to a distinctly 20th-century version of dictatorship. No one wants to be NoKo or Burma. Police states are passé. Maybe we don’t need to fear the men in white coats after all.

And picture, for a moment, the benefits of a dictator-free world. No more rogue regimes sponsoring terrorists or giving haven to mass murderers. No more famines in NoKo. The humanitarian benefits would be enormous. Once the last tyrant had fallen, imagine the creativity that would pour forth from the millions of people who had known nothing besides fear, repression and the best ways to survive it. We could build a museum to dictatorship – perhaps in Rangoon – where we could view their portraits, remember their crimes and wonder how men (they’re almost all men) could be so cruel to so many.

Today the people in Libya, and across the ME, are demonstrating that the most entrenched dictators can be challenged, and in some cases, uprooted. What about Africa or Asia? No one would be crazy for thinking it could happen again.

Courtney Messerschmidt

A junior studying journalism, military history and political science, Courtney was named one of 2010's "20 Hottest Women in New Media." She also created the infamous diplomatic, military and intelligence analysis site Great Satan's Girlfriend. Her expertise includes interventions, COIN, strategic uses of American power, global democracy promotion, authoritarian marginalization, gender apartheid, international relations theory and terrorism.